


It's Nice To Have A Friend

by likehandlingroses



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Fluff with a little Angst, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-10-20 04:50:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20669606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/likehandlingroses/pseuds/likehandlingroses
Summary: Ginny's spent every day since arriving at Hogwarts hoping for a friend who isn't in a diary, or whose last name isn't Weasley. She never expected that friend to be Luna Lovegood.





	It's Nice To Have A Friend

**1992**

Ginny lowered her head closer to the pages of her Transfiguration essay, as if it would shield her from Percy’s voice carrying across the usually hushed library. Madam Pince looked up from her desk momentarily, only to return to her filing with a satisfied grin: scolding was the only sort of noise she liked, and Percy was saving her the trouble of doing it herself.

Ginny had begged Percy not to go over to the trio of first years who had taken up nicking things from Luna Lovegood’s nearby study area. 

“They’re only being silly,” she insisted. “And anyway, she doesn’t even notice...it’s not hurting anything. They’ll give it back before they go. They always do.”

That had been the wrong thing to tell Percy, who looked more incensed than ever at the insinuation that this happened with some frequency. He marched over to their table with the sort of swelling fury that he usually reserved for Fred and George. 

“There’s simply no excuse for such unpleasant, uncharitable--not to mention  _ disruptive _ \--behavior. And I’m  _ mortified _ to find Gryffindors participating in it…” Percy’s Mum-impression was getting more spot-on by the day. “Ten points from Gryffindor, five from Ravenclaw...and not another word, or I’ll go to your Heads of Houses.”

Ginny’s cheeks grew hot. She understood that he had to do his job, and it was nice of him to stop them teasing Luna...but did he have to be so embarrassing about it? It was difficult enough making friends without being The Prefect’s Sister. 

The first-years, put off by Percy’s blustering, left the library with sour looks. Ginny thought one of them glared at her as they passed, and she ducked her head closer to the table. 

Wasn’t it ever going to get easier?

She saw Percy help Luna pick up her quills and spare bits of parchment off of the floor. Then, to her horror, she watched him join Luna in scooping up her things and carrying them over to where Ginny was sitting. 

“Ginny, you know Luna, of course,” he said plopping Luna’s textbooks in front of her new seat next to Ginny. “She’s working on Professor McGonagall’s essay as well, so I thought you two could help each other through it.”

“But where are you going?” Ginny asked, noting that Percy appeared to be packing up his bag rather than sitting down.

“I’ve got to be off, it’s almost five. Advisory meeting. I’ll see you at dinner…” Percy heaved his bag over his shoulder and half-turned before looking back at Ginny. “Make sure you come to dinner, even if you aren’t finished with the essay. I’ll help you with it tonight, if you need, but--”

“--dinner, right, got it!” Ginny interrupted, fearful that he’d bring up how pale she was again in front of Luna. If the strange girl started thinking she was odd, she’d really be finished. “I’ll see you.” 

Luna stared at her as Ginny attempted to get back to writing. However, a combination of Percy’s sudden departure and Luna’s probing stare left Ginny’s quill hovering over the page.

“Do you braid your own hair?” Luna asked suddenly. Ginny looked up at her, puzzled. 

“‘Course I do. Who else would do it?”

Luna shrugged, unperturbed by Ginny’s answer. 

“It’s only that some girls in my dormitory braid each other’s hair,” she said. “So I wondered if someone had braided yours.”

“No.” 

“That’s nice, that you can do it on your own,” Luna said. “I never learned.”

Ginny waited in trepidation for Luna to ask if she would teach her, but Luna only blinked slowly a few times before turning back to her paper. 

“They’re very pretty,” she said, almost ten minutes after they fell back into silence.

“What are?”

“Your braids.”

Ginny grabbed one of them self-consciously, but Luna had already started writing again.

“Thanks,” Ginny murmured. 

* * *

**1993**

“And Madam Pomfrey said you could have non-family visitors today, if you were up for it--” Mum said, fluffing Ginny’s pillows.

It had taken Madam Pomfrey reassuring them about a hundred times that Ginny was going to be perfectly fine, but Dad had finally gone off to work, and all of her brothers had reluctantly left her bedside so as not to miss their first class. Mum, however, had insisted on staying for a little while longer. 

Ginny wouldn’t have minded at all, except for the fact that Mum was now going to see first hand just how lonely she’d been all year. 

“--no one’s going to visit, Mum,” she tried to tell her. “I don’t have any friends.”

She said it harshly, as if by doing so she could mask the patheticness behind the words. 

“Nonsense,” Mum said. “I told you, that boy who was Petrified kept asking to see you…”

“And then he went to the feast and he found out it’s all my fault he almost died…” Ginny looked down at her hands. “Colin used to be my friend, but he won’t be after that.”

Mum stopped fussing with her bed things and gave her a stern look, even as she reached out a hand to brush through Ginny’s hair. 

“It wasn’t your fault. None of it,” she said. “Everyone with sense will know that...and if they don’t have sense, then you don’t want them for friends, do you?”

Ginny let Mum help her cut up her breakfast sausage as if she was small again, not saying another word about her lack of friends. She didn’t want to argue such an embarrassing thing with her mother. She’d see, soon enough. Colin wasn’t going to show up, and neither was anyone else. 

“Luna!”

How Luna had managed to get to the end of Ginny’s bed without her noticing, Ginny didn’t know. But there she was, tapping her fingers on the metal knob at the end of the bedpost, staring blankly from Ginny to Mrs. Weasley. 

“Hello.” Luna looked out the window behind them, squinting at the sun poking through it.

“And who is _ this _ ?” Mum had ‘I told you so’ written all over her face as she glanced at Ginny. 

“Luna Lovegood,” Ginny replied. 

“Oh, of course! The Lovegoods are just on the other side of the hill from our house.” Mum smiled warmly at Luna. “Your mother brought you over to look at the chickens sometimes, when she was going into town. I don’t suppose you remember?”

“No, I must have been quite small,” Luna said. “Or else the memory got stolen away in a dream. That can happen sometimes, if you leave the window open.”

Mum appeared at a loss for words, but Luna meandered over to Ginny’s side, looking utterly content with how things had gone so far. 

“These are for you.” Luna held out a haphazard bouquet of fiery tiger lilies. “I wanted to bring a cup for a vase, but someone’s taken everything out of my side drawer…”

Ginny took the flowers with a muttered thank you. Mum looked on the verge of tears. 

“Oh, isn’t that  _ thoughtful _ ?” she said, beaming at her. “I’ll get these in water, shall I? Give you a minute to talk with your friend.”

Luna watched Mum leave before turning to Ginny. 

“Are you coming back next year?” she asked. 

Ginny frowned. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because of what happened,” Luna said, as if the words meant nothing at all. “Some people would probably just stay at home forever after that.”

Ginny sat up straighter in bed. “I’m not some people.”

Luna blinked. “I know. I just wondered.”

“Right,” Ginny said, unsure of what Luna was playing at. Coming here and bringing her flowers and talking to her about leaving Hogwarts. 

“I’m glad you’ll come back,” Luna said. “It’s nicer, when you’re around.”

For the first time since meeting Luna, Ginny saw a flush on Luna’s cheeks. She looked down at her trainers after saying it, and Ginny felt a surge of fondness for her. 

“Thanks.”

Luna nodded, turned on her heel, and hurried away, leaving Ginny more confused than ever. 

However, she smiled each time she caught sight of the lilies beside her bed. 

* * *

**1994**

“But isn’t it true that the Ministry puts pixie eggs into breakfast cereals to keep people from growing as big as they used to?” Luna asked, her hand still in the air. 

“None of the literature I’ve personally read on the pixie has covered breakfast cereals,” Professor Lupin said, as amiable as ever. He probably liked Luna better than most of the teachers, Ginny reckoned. He seemed to find her interjections funny, though he never laughed. “But I will admit that my knowledge here is--as in everything--incomplete.” 

Luna nodded. “I’ll have to ask Daddy to send a copy of the article over.”

“I would appreciate that, Luna, thank you.”

“It was rather thoroughly researched, so it might be worth having the class look at it,” she suggested. Ginny closed her eyes in embarrassment. She always took it too far, every time…

“We can discuss that at another date, perhaps.” Lupin’s mild response was undercut by Xander Pherson shouting: “will you shut it for today already?”

Before Professor Lupin could so much as open his mouth, Ginny whipped around in her seat. 

“Will you shut it for forever already, Pherson?”

Pherson didn’t look like someone who had thought he’d get much pushback for mocking Loony Lovegood. He blinked at Ginny, stunned. 

“We’ve got exams, and she’s talking rubbish!” he finally managed.

“Well you weren’t going to pass with high marks anyway, judging by the fact that you didn’t even know the difference between a pixie and a fairy at the start of class!” Ginny snapped. “So thanks to you for taking up the first ten minutes of class on a lesson we learned back at the start of term! I’m really glad we wasted all that time. And now we’re wasting even more, because you had to act like you’re five.”

She turned back to the front of the class, tossing her hair behind her. Luna was pretending not to hear the exchange as she doodled on her notes, but Ginny could tell from the set of her jaw that she was listening. 

“Sorry about that, Professor,” Ginny said to Lupin, whose eyebrows were raised. And no wonder: Ginny hadn’t spoken that much in his class all year. In any class, come to think of it. 

“Now, let’s all settle ourselves…” he said, though Ginny could see amusement in his eye. “We have strong minds in here, and that’s a wonderful thing...but what did we discuss before Christmas?” 

“Not to be afraid of each other’s ideas,” Luna said, and there was steel in her voice. 

Ginny looked down the aisle at her with a grin. 

* * *

**1995**

Ginny eyed the entry to the Ravenclaw Common Room again, hoping she hadn’t missed Luna leaving. A fine thing it would be, to show up to the D.A. meeting late, all because she’d stopped to walk with Luna Lovegood…

She shook her head, as if doing so might shake out her embarrassment. She’d sworn off caring what other people thought of her, ever since seeing how ugly that sort of worrying had made Percy…

She’d walk with whoever she wanted to, and today she was going to walk with Luna. 

Thankfully, Luna eventually came out, looking as vacant as ever until she saw Ginny waving. 

Luna looked behind her, as if expecting to see someone else.

“Luna!” Ginny called with a laugh. “Come on then, or we’ll be late!”

Luna trotted over to her, eyes lit with excitement.    


“Did you forget where the Room is?” she asked, her Butterbeer cork earrings swinging as she tilted her head, a bemused expression on her face. 

“No,” Ginny said cheerily, hurrying them both down the hall. “I was just waiting for you, is all.”

“Me?” Luna frowned. “But why?”

“Because we’re friends, silly,” Ginny said, stopping Luna with her hand before they ran into Malfoy, who was strutting just ahead of them in the corridor. 

“Are you sure?” Luna asked as Ginny pretended to dig through her bag while Malfoy turned the corner. 

“Of course I’m sure,” Ginny smiled at her. “Chocolate Frog?” 

Luna looked dazed as Ginny shoved the Frog into her hand and tugged her by the sleeve to indicate that they should get going again. 

By the time they reached the Room of Requirement, Luna was contentedly gnawing on one of its legs, as happy as Ginny had ever seen her. 

Ginny, caught up in Luna’s joy, hardly noticed if anyone stared. 

* * *

**1996**

“You’re so pretty,” Ginny murmured, combing through Luna’s hair. 

“You haven’t done anything yet,” Luna said, fidgeting with the hairpins Ginny had asked her to hold. 

“What are you talking about?” Ginny laughed. “It’s nothing to do with me...you’re pretty all the time.”

She separated a piece of hair on Luna’s right temple into three strands. She’d have to teach Luna how to braid her own hair, one of these days.

But she wasn’t going to pass up the chance to help Luna get ready for her first party. 

“It’ll just be a small one, on the side...that okay?” she said into the mirror. Something jumped in her stomach at seeing her hands on Luna’s shoulder, her fingers tracing behind Luna’s ear…

She swallowed, shaking her head. 

“You’re going to have so much fun with Harry,” she said. 

“I think so,” Luna agreed. “I don’t know why he asked me...even just as friends. He has so many friends.”

“Harry?” Ginny laughed. “Not as many as you’d think, I’ll bet. Pin?”

Luna stared into the mirror, a curious look in her eye.

“You have a lot of friends,” she said. “I see you with them at lunch and after class...but you always have time to spend with me.”

“Of course I do,” Ginny said. “You’re my best friend.”

Luna beamed at her. She opened her mouth, then closed it, as if afraid of her own words. Ginny smiled, feeling sure she could guess what they were. 

* * *

**1997**

The kiss was almost an accident. Ginny had only meant to express her relief that Luna had dodged getting a detention. Neville seemed convinced that the Carrows wouldn’t do anything permanent, but after seeing what had happened to Ernie last week, Ginny wasn’t sure they’d know where that line was, even if they did care. 

Everything at Hogwarts had turned nightmarish, absolutely vile...and somehow Ginny felt herself growing softer, in some places. She held people tighter, she spoke with more care. Just the other week, she’d seen Amycus Carrow shouting at Professor Flitwick and almost burst into tears. 

There were so many people she loved, so many things that ought to be sacred and cherished and cared for that weren’t…

And if something happened to Luna, Ginny worried that she might break apart entirely. 

So she’d kissed her, without any thought for what it meant. 

Luna blinked after Ginny pulled away, one hand reaching up to her lips. 

“Sorry,” Ginny said breathlessly. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I did that.”

“It was just a mistake?” Luna asked. Ginny could hear the faintest trace of sadness in her voice. 

“No,” she said quickly. “Not a mistake, that’s not what I meant.”

“What did you mean?”

Ginny held her about the neck, pressing her face into Luna’s shoulder.

“I just want you to be okay,” she whispered. And though she still wasn’t sure what it meant, she felt entirely at peace when Luna pulled back to kiss her again, her hands cupping Ginny’s face.

“I want you to be okay, too.” 

* * *

**1998**

Hermione wasn’t riding the train to school, and so Ginny and Luna sat alone. Ginny still wasn’t sure she was making the right decision in coming back, but the Harpies had suggested she take the opportunity to play one more year at the educational level. 

Besides, Luna had told her she was going back, and Ginny couldn’t bear to be away from her for so many months. Not after they’d spent all summer teaching each other how to feel safe again: Luna painting in Ginny’s room at the Burrow, and Ginny patching up the garden at the Lovegoods. Both of them making a home out of the places they shared with one another. 

She couldn’t leave that behind. 

The rain pattered on the windows, and Ginny held Luna’s hand tight.

“I wish we didn’t have to bother with houses,” she murmured. “I just want to be with you.”

Luna nodded, though she looked unconcerned.

“I don’t think Professor Flitwick will mind much if you come and visit sometimes.”

Ginny hoped she was right. 

* * *

**1999**

“He’s so impossible,” Ginny laughed, leaning back against Luna as they both watched Percy trying (unsuccessfully) to show Teddy how to throw seeds to the ducks by the water’s edge. Teddy, who still wobbled more than he walked, seemed petrified by the very concept of ducks, and it didn’t matter how many times Percy tried to reintroduce the concept over the course of the family picnic. He screamed and leapt halfway up Percy’s leg at the first sight of a bill. 

“Well, he’s stopped crying as long as someone holds him now,” Luna said fairly. “That’s something, I suppose.”

Ginny wrapped Luna’s arms tighter around her, surveying the scene. She tried not to be too taken in by arbitrary things like sunshine, but she had to admit that life appeared more colorful, more wonderful, than it had in years. 

The fact that they could still laugh was a glorious thing. That they could all find joy in something as simple as ducks swimming in water...it was nothing short of a miracle.

But the nicest bit, Ginny thought--the thing that made it all feel so cozy and necessary--was having Luna there beside her.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! This fic is inspired by the Taylor Swift song of the same name.


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